ALASKA. 171 



on this little ishiiid, stiiiuling stacked np to^etber like so iiianj- 

 bottles, as tliiekly as they can be stowed, making all the time 

 a deep, low, hoarse, grunting- noise. They quarrel among 

 themselves incessantly, and in this way roll thousands of eggs 

 otl into the sea, or into crevices and fissures, where they are 

 lost and broken. 



"The 'arrie' lays but one o^g. If this is removed or broken, 

 she will soon lay another; but, if undisturbed after depositing 

 the first, she undertakes the hatching at once. The size, shape, 

 and coloration of this Qg:g are exceedingly variable. A large 

 proportion of the eggs become so dirt}', by rolling bere and 

 there in the excrement while the birds tread and quarrel over 

 them, as to be almost unrecognizable. The shell is very tough, 

 and the natives, when gathering them, fill tubs, baskets, «S:c., 

 on the cliffs, carry them down to the general heap collected 

 near the boats' landing, and pour them out upon the rocks with 

 a single Hip of the hand, just as a basket of apples would be 

 emptied ; and, after this, they are again quite as carelessly 

 handled when loaded into the 'bidarrah,' sustaining through it 

 all very little injury. 



''The small grassy interior of the island, which is sharply 

 margined by the surrounding breeding-belt of'arries'on the 

 shore-line, is the only place, I believe, in this sea where the 

 great white gull {Lams gJaucus) breeds. Among the little 

 grassy tussocks here, it builds a nest of dry grass, sea-ferns, 

 &c., very nicely laid up and rounded, and in which it lays usu- 

 ally three eggs, sometimes only a couple ; in exceptional instances 

 I have seen four. These big gulls could not breed on either of 

 the other islands in this manner, for the foxes there would have 

 the upper hand instantly,- and the bird is too large to settle 

 on the narrow shelf-ledges of the cliffs, like the smaller gulls 

 and other water-fowls. 



'* The red-legged kittiwake, [Larus hyevirosfris.) and its cousin, 

 Larus trUJactylusj build in the most amicable manner together 

 on the faces of the cliffs, associated with cormorants, sea-par- 

 rots, and auks, all together, and, with the exception of the 

 latter, the nests are easy of access. 



"As we land, the ' arries' Hy from their eggs off' and around 

 for a short distance, and then settle down into the sea in platoons 

 or files, swaying hither and thither with the movement of swell 

 and tide, trailed out over the water like iireat whii)-lashes. 



